Position: Caregiving/Assistant Caregiving and Cleaning

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No drop-by visits or phone calls, please. If you have questions about our open positions, you can email: [email protected]...

Last Updated: October 6, 2024

Founded in 2001, Peace Ridge Sanctuary is a nonprofit animal advocacy and conservation organization running multiple shelters for farmed animals, equines, and dogs in Brooks, Belfast, and Freedom, Maine. We’re looking for strong, kind, reliable people who want to grow with the organization and help support our mission of actively rescuing animals from cruelty, neglect, and other emergency situations. If you want a job helping animals, read more about us, our open position(s), and what we’re looking for below.

What you’ll find here – World-class shelters run with the highest ethic. Over 600 wonderful, deserving farmed animals, equines, and dogs rescued from some of the worst conditions imaginable, now living their best lives. Beautiful properties, meticulously maintained barns and habitats, and a positive work environment. A team of strong, kind people who are committed to helping animals. Meaningful work.

Open Positions:

Please read through this page completely for more information about open jobs, potential future jobs, job descriptions, hiring practices, and more before applying.

Farmed Animal Caregiver – Brooks, Maine
• Position: Caregiving/Assistant Caregiving and Cleaning
• Weekend work will be required
• Full-Time preferred, Part-Time considered

Equine Caregiver/Barn Cleaner – Freedom, Maine
• Position: Barn Cleaning & Caregiving/Assistant Caregiving
• Part-Time Weekend Position (Saturday/Sunday 8am – 4pm)
• Full-Time position may be available, but weekend work will be required regardless and some day(s) may be required at Brooks shelter

Evening Animal Caregiver – Brooks, Maine
• Evening Shift starting from 6pm until finish (around 9 or 10pm)
• Five evenings a week preferred, four evenings considered
• Full-Time position may be available if someone wanted more hours during the morning or afternoon shift

Job Descriptions & More Info:

What does an animal caregiver’s day look like – Animal caregivers are tasked with keeping our rescued animals happy and healthy. While no two days will be exactly alike, every day will be focused on making sure all of the needs of our residents are met. Typical tasks include feeding and watering, health checks, medical protocols, preventative and special care, barn and habitat cleaning (caregivers always participate in cleaning), assisting with veterinary and farrier appointments, maintaining medical records, enrichment, etc. Other tasks, such as helping fellow team members, preparing for new rescues, training interns or volunteers, participating in on-site events, etc. will be assigned on an as-needed basis. In the high-capacity shelter world, flexibility is key to making sure all the necessary tasks are completed each day, so ideal candidates are organized, detail-focused people who can also be flexible and make adjustments when needed.

What is the evening caregiver position like – The evening caregiver plays a very important role at our main shelter in Brooks. This person is tasked with going from barn to barn checking on each of the residents and making sure everyone is set for the night. Daily tasks vary a bit from season to season, but include shutting animals in, last feed-outs, checking and refilling/topping off waters, doing last health checks, and other assigned tasks. Evening caregivers regularly help with last dog walks and may be trained to help with evening medications. Other regular responsibilities are basic janitorial duties in our “people barn” including sweeping, mopping, light cleaning, taking trash and recycling to on-site dumpsters, etc. Evening caregivers should plan to spend roughly three hours a night, but should be flexible in case tasks take longer due to weather, animal health needs, etc. Full-time positions helping during the daytime as well can also be considered.

What does a barn cleaner’s day look like – Barn cleaners are tasked with keeping our facilities cleaned and maintained in a way that ensures hygienic and dignified living for the animals. Each of our barns and pastures is cleaned daily. Cleaning is a critical part of keeping our animals happy and healthy and barn cleaners play an essential and respected role on our team. Other tasks, such as groundskeeping, repairs, helping other team members, preparing for new rescues, etc. will be assigned on an as-needed basis. Ideal candidates are organized and good at following specific, detailed instructions. For people with farm experience, please familiarize yourself with our organization and mission before applying.

For All Positions – What We’re Looking For:

We’re looking for people who are strong – Regardless of the position, sanctuary work requires physical, mental, and emotional strength. Whether you’re slinging 50 lb. grain bags and hay bales, catching and holding animals for medical care, walking miles on wooded trails with dogs, setting up coral panels for an emergency rescue, cleaning barns, doing pasture pickup, or working outside in any given weather conditions, we’re looking for people with stamina and grit who don’t mind putting in an honest day’s work to help animals live their best lives.

We’re looking for people who are kind – The animals are our family here and we are looking for people who will prioritize the animals’ health, safety, and love them like we do. Sometimes the animals don’t always cooperate the way we want them to, but that is ok, this is their home, so we’re looking for people who will be patient and kind. Even though we’re often working independently, we’re a team, so being kind and respectful of fellow staff and managers is essential. Our ideal candidates ask questions when needed and are easy to communicate with.

We’re looking for people who are reliable – Every day, the animals are counting on us to take care of them, so we’re looking for people who show up on time and work to meet each day’s goals.

We’re looking for people who want to grow with us – For animal caregiver positions, we’re always looking for people with experience in a high-capacity shelter, sanctuary, or veterinary setting, though we consider serious candidates who don’t yet have experience on a case-by-case basis for assistant caregiver positions. Barn cleaning positions are a great way to get your foot in the door, gain experience, and potentially grow to take on caregiving responsibilities. Regardless of where you’re starting, we’re looking for people who want to keep learning, keep getting better, and want to grow with the organization. We’re looking to invest in the right people long term and we’re looking for them to invest in Peace Ridge long term. What does long-term mean to us? At least a year, (hopefully longer!), so if you’re a job hopper, looking for a short-term gig, or just wanting to try something new out, please don’t apply.

More Details:

Peace Ridge is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization. We strive to pay a living wage and support our team while they do this meaningful work, but candidates should understand nonprofit the nonprofit world is inherently different than the for-profit world. Here is some more information to consider:
• Please note on the application what position(s) you’re interested in and if you’re looking for full-time or part-time work
• The work schedule remains consistent from week to week
• The typical full-time/hourly schedule is 8am – 4pm, five days a week (paid ½ hour lunch); if you’re assigned tasks aren’t completed, you’ll need to work later that day, but we try to keep hourly schedules to 8 hour workdays
• Weekend and holiday work will be required (animals don’t take days off)
• Paid vacation and sick time is offered to full-time employees
• Starting pay is $17 an hour with yearly raises based on performance
• Staff must be respectful of our vegan mission

Because we’re always looking for new hires to become long-term team members who can help us help more animals, we want to make sure that you’re a good fit for us, and we’re a good fit for you. Here are the typical steps of our hiring process:
• You fill out our required job application form (linked below)
• If it seems like a potential match, we’ll set up a preliminary phone call (note: due to the high volume of applications, we may not be able to respond to all applications if it doesn’t seem like the right fit)
• If you’re still interested and we are too, we’ll interview in person at the sanctuary location you’re interested in working at
• We’ll look to you to give us written feedback by email within 24 hours of the interview
• While not always required, paid working interviews are often the last interview step to give you a better sense of the workload and job before making a final decision

No drop-by visits or phone calls, please. If you have questions about our open positions, you can email: [email protected]

Peace Ridge Sanctuary is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of an applicant’s race, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, color, gender (including gender identity or expression), pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, marital status, religion, physical or mental disability, genetic characteristics, protected medical condition, military status or any other classifications that are protected under applicable federal or state anti-discrimination law

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